Fort Bend ISD Board to Vote Oct. 5 on Secondary Boundary Changes After Survey Shows Support for Elkins Relief Plan
Fort Bend ISD trustees will vote Oct. 5 on secondary boundary changes designed to relieve overutilization at Austin, Elkins and Travis high schools after the district released the results of a community survey on the proposals.
The district distributed 63,855 surveys and received 2,685 responses, mostly from parents, Chief of Organizational Development Stephanie Williams said. More than 700 responses came from Elkins High School, the largest total from any campus.
Overall, 77% of respondents said they could support at least one of the two high school scenarios, while 22% opposed both, Williams said. Survey data showed stakeholders supported draft scenario two over scenario one.
The two high school scenarios each affect seven campuses. Option one would affect 1,050 students and send children zoned to Elkins only to Clements High School. Option two would affect 1,561 students and send Elkins feeder students to both Dulles and Clements by rezoning Quail Valley Middle School’s boundary to Dulles. The district says the second option provides more relief to Elkins.
Among respondents living in affected feeder areas, more people also supported high school scenario two over scenario one, though the margin was no more than five percentage points, Williams said.
Travis High School showed the strongest opposition. About half of Travis respondents opposed both high school scenarios, Williams said.
In open-ended responses, parents most frequently raised concerns about disrupting student cohorts and separating students from neighbors, Williams said. They also cited unbalanced utilization in the proposed scenarios.
The district also presented one middle school scenario, which affects 10 campuses and focuses on fixing feeder patterns while keeping groups of students together as much as possible, Williams said.
Currently, 14 elementary schools split to more than one middle school, and 11 middle schools split to more than one high school. Under the proposal, eight elementary schools and seven middle schools would split.
The School Boundary Advisory Committee, a group of community members that works with the district on boundary changes, also voted after reviewing community feedback. Williams said 89% of committee respondents said they would be comfortable with any high school scenario that passes, though many still preferred one option over the other when asked.
The board will consider the survey results and committee input during its Oct. 5 meeting before voting on the boundary changes.
